CINXE.COM
Bezant - Wikipedia
<!DOCTYPE html> <html class="client-nojs vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-enabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-sticky-header-enabled vector-toc-available" lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <title>Bezant - Wikipedia</title> <script>(function(){var className="client-js vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-enabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-sticky-header-enabled vector-toc-available";var cookie=document.cookie.match(/(?:^|; )enwikimwclientpreferences=([^;]+)/);if(cookie){cookie[1].split('%2C').forEach(function(pref){className=className.replace(new RegExp('(^| )'+pref.replace(/-clientpref-\w+$|[^\w-]+/g,'')+'-clientpref-\\w+( |$)'),'$1'+pref+'$2');});}document.documentElement.className=className;}());RLCONF={"wgBreakFrames":false,"wgSeparatorTransformTable":["",""],"wgDigitTransformTable":["",""],"wgDefaultDateFormat":"dmy", "wgMonthNames":["","January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"wgRequestId":"bd35d179-a368-42ba-bb92-c3a790a5623f","wgCanonicalNamespace":"","wgCanonicalSpecialPageName":false,"wgNamespaceNumber":0,"wgPageName":"Bezant","wgTitle":"Bezant","wgCurRevisionId":1269008462,"wgRevisionId":1269008462,"wgArticleId":1098309,"wgIsArticle":true,"wgIsRedirect":false,"wgAction":"view","wgUserName":null,"wgUserGroups":["*"],"wgCategories":["Articles with short description","Short description matches Wikidata","Articles containing Old French (842-ca. 1400)-language text","Articles containing Latin-language text","Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text","Commons category link from Wikidata","Coins","Gold coins","Coins of the Byzantine Empire","Heraldic charges"],"wgPageViewLanguage":"en","wgPageContentLanguage":"en","wgPageContentModel":"wikitext","wgRelevantPageName":"Bezant","wgRelevantArticleId":1098309, "wgIsProbablyEditable":true,"wgRelevantPageIsProbablyEditable":true,"wgRestrictionEdit":[],"wgRestrictionMove":[],"wgNoticeProject":"wikipedia","wgCiteReferencePreviewsActive":false,"wgFlaggedRevsParams":{"tags":{"status":{"levels":1}}},"wgMediaViewerOnClick":true,"wgMediaViewerEnabledByDefault":true,"wgPopupsFlags":0,"wgVisualEditor":{"pageLanguageCode":"en","pageLanguageDir":"ltr","pageVariantFallbacks":"en"},"wgMFDisplayWikibaseDescriptions":{"search":true,"watchlist":true,"tagline":false,"nearby":true},"wgWMESchemaEditAttemptStepOversample":false,"wgWMEPageLength":7000,"wgRelatedArticlesCompat":[],"wgEditSubmitButtonLabelPublish":true,"wgULSPosition":"interlanguage","wgULSisCompactLinksEnabled":false,"wgVector2022LanguageInHeader":true,"wgULSisLanguageSelectorEmpty":false,"wgWikibaseItemId":"Q649847","wgCheckUserClientHintsHeadersJsApi":["brands","architecture","bitness","fullVersionList","mobile","model","platform","platformVersion"],"GEHomepageSuggestedEditsEnableTopics":true, "wgGETopicsMatchModeEnabled":false,"wgGEStructuredTaskRejectionReasonTextInputEnabled":false,"wgGELevelingUpEnabledForUser":false};RLSTATE={"ext.globalCssJs.user.styles":"ready","site.styles":"ready","user.styles":"ready","ext.globalCssJs.user":"ready","user":"ready","user.options":"loading","ext.cite.styles":"ready","mediawiki.page.gallery.styles":"ready","skins.vector.search.codex.styles":"ready","skins.vector.styles":"ready","skins.vector.icons":"ready","ext.wikimediamessages.styles":"ready","ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript":"ready","ext.uls.interlanguage":"ready","wikibase.client.init":"ready","ext.wikimediaBadges":"ready"};RLPAGEMODULES=["ext.cite.ux-enhancements","mediawiki.page.media","site","mediawiki.page.ready","mediawiki.toc","skins.vector.js","ext.centralNotice.geoIP","ext.centralNotice.startUp","ext.gadget.ReferenceTooltips","ext.gadget.switcher","ext.urlShortener.toolbar","ext.centralauth.centralautologin","mmv.bootstrap","ext.popups", "ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.init","ext.visualEditor.targetLoader","ext.echo.centralauth","ext.eventLogging","ext.wikimediaEvents","ext.navigationTiming","ext.uls.interface","ext.cx.eventlogging.campaigns","ext.cx.uls.quick.actions","wikibase.client.vector-2022","ext.checkUser.clientHints","ext.growthExperiments.SuggestedEditSession"];</script> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.loader.impl(function(){return["user.options@12s5i",function($,jQuery,require,module){mw.user.tokens.set({"patrolToken":"+\\","watchToken":"+\\","csrfToken":"+\\"}); }];});});</script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=ext.cite.styles%7Cext.uls.interlanguage%7Cext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript%7Cext.wikimediaBadges%7Cext.wikimediamessages.styles%7Cmediawiki.page.gallery.styles%7Cskins.vector.icons%2Cstyles%7Cskins.vector.search.codex.styles%7Cwikibase.client.init&only=styles&skin=vector-2022"> <script async="" src="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=startup&only=scripts&raw=1&skin=vector-2022"></script> <meta name="ResourceLoaderDynamicStyles" content=""> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=site.styles&only=styles&skin=vector-2022"> <meta name="generator" content="MediaWiki 1.44.0-wmf.12"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin-when-cross-origin"> <meta name="robots" content="max-image-preview:standard"> <meta name="format-detection" content="telephone=no"> <meta property="og:image" content="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Tripoli_gold_bezant_in_Arabic_1270_1300_Tripoli_silver_gros_1275_1287.jpg"> <meta property="og:image:width" content="1200"> <meta property="og:image:height" content="644"> <meta property="og:image" content="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ac/Tripoli_gold_bezant_in_Arabic_1270_1300_Tripoli_silver_gros_1275_1287.jpg/800px-Tripoli_gold_bezant_in_Arabic_1270_1300_Tripoli_silver_gros_1275_1287.jpg"> <meta property="og:image:width" content="800"> <meta property="og:image:height" content="429"> <meta property="og:image" content="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ac/Tripoli_gold_bezant_in_Arabic_1270_1300_Tripoli_silver_gros_1275_1287.jpg/640px-Tripoli_gold_bezant_in_Arabic_1270_1300_Tripoli_silver_gros_1275_1287.jpg"> <meta property="og:image:width" content="640"> <meta property="og:image:height" content="343"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=1120"> <meta property="og:title" content="Bezant - Wikipedia"> <meta property="og:type" content="website"> <link rel="preconnect" href="//upload.wikimedia.org"> <link rel="alternate" media="only screen and (max-width: 640px)" href="//en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bezant"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/x-wiki" title="Edit this page" href="/w/index.php?title=Bezant&action=edit"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/static/apple-touch/wikipedia.png"> <link rel="icon" href="/static/favicon/wikipedia.ico"> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="/w/rest.php/v1/search" title="Wikipedia (en)"> <link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" href="//en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=rsd"> <link rel="canonical" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bezant"> <link rel="license" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="Wikipedia Atom feed" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&feed=atom"> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="//meta.wikimedia.org" /> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="login.wikimedia.org"> </head> <body class="skin--responsive skin-vector skin-vector-search-vue mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject mw-editable page-Bezant rootpage-Bezant skin-vector-2022 action-view"><a class="mw-jump-link" href="#bodyContent">Jump to content</a> <div class="vector-header-container"> <header class="vector-header mw-header"> <div class="vector-header-start"> <nav class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-main-menu-dropdown vector-button-flush-left vector-button-flush-right" title="Main menu" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Main menu" > <label id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-label" for="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-menu mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-menu"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Main menu</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-main-menu" class="vector-main-menu vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-main-menu-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="main-menu-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-main-menu" data-pinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Main menu</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-navigation" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-navigation" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Navigation </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-mainpage-description" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Main_Page" title="Visit the main page [z]" accesskey="z"><span>Main page</span></a></li><li id="n-contents" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Contents" title="Guides to browsing Wikipedia"><span>Contents</span></a></li><li id="n-currentevents" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Portal:Current_events" title="Articles related to current events"><span>Current events</span></a></li><li id="n-randompage" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:Random" title="Visit a randomly selected article [x]" accesskey="x"><span>Random article</span></a></li><li id="n-aboutsite" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:About" title="Learn about Wikipedia and how it works"><span>About Wikipedia</span></a></li><li id="n-contactpage" class="mw-list-item"><a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contact_us" title="How to contact Wikipedia"><span>Contact us</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-interaction" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-interaction" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Contribute </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-help" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Help:Contents" title="Guidance on how to use and edit Wikipedia"><span>Help</span></a></li><li id="n-introduction" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Help:Introduction" title="Learn how to edit Wikipedia"><span>Learn to edit</span></a></li><li id="n-portal" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Community_portal" title="The hub for editors"><span>Community portal</span></a></li><li id="n-recentchanges" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChanges" title="A list of recent changes to Wikipedia [r]" accesskey="r"><span>Recent changes</span></a></li><li id="n-upload" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:File_upload_wizard" title="Add images or other media for use on Wikipedia"><span>Upload file</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <a href="/wiki/Main_Page" class="mw-logo"> <img class="mw-logo-icon" src="/static/images/icons/wikipedia.png" alt="" aria-hidden="true" height="50" width="50"> <span class="mw-logo-container skin-invert"> <img class="mw-logo-wordmark" alt="Wikipedia" src="/static/images/mobile/copyright/wikipedia-wordmark-en.svg" style="width: 7.5em; height: 1.125em;"> <img class="mw-logo-tagline" alt="The Free Encyclopedia" src="/static/images/mobile/copyright/wikipedia-tagline-en.svg" width="117" height="13" style="width: 7.3125em; height: 0.8125em;"> </span> </a> </div> <div class="vector-header-end"> <div id="p-search" role="search" class="vector-search-box-vue vector-search-box-collapses vector-search-box-show-thumbnail vector-search-box-auto-expand-width vector-search-box"> <a href="/wiki/Special:Search" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only search-toggle" title="Search Wikipedia [f]" accesskey="f"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-search mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-search"></span> <span>Search</span> </a> <div class="vector-typeahead-search-container"> <div class="cdx-typeahead-search cdx-typeahead-search--show-thumbnail cdx-typeahead-search--auto-expand-width"> <form action="/w/index.php" id="searchform" class="cdx-search-input cdx-search-input--has-end-button"> <div id="simpleSearch" class="cdx-search-input__input-wrapper" data-search-loc="header-moved"> <div class="cdx-text-input cdx-text-input--has-start-icon"> <input class="cdx-text-input__input" type="search" name="search" placeholder="Search Wikipedia" aria-label="Search Wikipedia" autocapitalize="sentences" title="Search Wikipedia [f]" accesskey="f" id="searchInput" > <span class="cdx-text-input__icon cdx-text-input__start-icon"></span> </div> <input type="hidden" name="title" value="Special:Search"> </div> <button class="cdx-button cdx-search-input__end-button">Search</button> </form> </div> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-user-links vector-user-links-wide" aria-label="Personal tools"> <div class="vector-user-links-main"> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-preferences" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-userpage" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown " title="Change the appearance of the page's font size, width, and color" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Appearance" > <label id="vector-appearance-dropdown-label" for="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-appearance mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-appearance"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Appearance</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-notifications" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-overflow" class="vector-menu mw-portlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="https://donate.wikimedia.org/?wmf_source=donate&wmf_medium=sidebar&wmf_campaign=en.wikipedia.org&uselang=en" class=""><span>Donate</span></a> </li> <li id="pt-createaccount-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Bezant" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory" class=""><span>Create account</span></a> </li> <li id="pt-login-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Bezant" title="You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [o]" accesskey="o" class=""><span>Log in</span></a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div id="vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-user-menu vector-button-flush-right vector-user-menu-logged-out" title="Log in and more options" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Personal tools" > <label id="vector-user-links-dropdown-label" for="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-ellipsis mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-ellipsis"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Personal tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-personal" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-personal user-links-collapsible-item" title="User menu" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="https://donate.wikimedia.org/?wmf_source=donate&wmf_medium=sidebar&wmf_campaign=en.wikipedia.org&uselang=en"><span>Donate</span></a></li><li id="pt-createaccount" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Bezant" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-userAdd mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-userAdd"></span> <span>Create account</span></a></li><li id="pt-login" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Bezant" title="You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [o]" accesskey="o"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-logIn mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-logIn"></span> <span>Log in</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-user-menu-anon-editor" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-user-menu-anon-editor" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Pages for logged out editors <a href="/wiki/Help:Introduction" aria-label="Learn more about editing"><span>learn more</span></a> </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-anoncontribs" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyContributions" title="A list of edits made from this IP address [y]" accesskey="y"><span>Contributions</span></a></li><li id="pt-anontalk" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyTalk" title="Discussion about edits from this IP address [n]" accesskey="n"><span>Talk</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </header> </div> <div class="mw-page-container"> <div class="mw-page-container-inner"> <div class="vector-sitenotice-container"> <div id="siteNotice"><!-- CentralNotice --></div> </div> <div class="vector-column-start"> <div class="vector-main-menu-container"> <div id="mw-navigation"> <nav id="mw-panel" class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav id="mw-panel-toc" aria-label="Contents" data-event-name="ui.sidebar-toc" class="mw-table-of-contents-container vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-toc-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-toc" class="vector-toc vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-toc-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="toc-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-toc" > <h2 class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Contents</h2> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.unpin">hide</button> </div> <ul class="vector-toc-contents" id="mw-panel-toc-list"> <li id="toc-mw-content-text" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a href="#" class="vector-toc-link"> <div class="vector-toc-text">(Top)</div> </a> </li> <li id="toc-Medieval_history" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Medieval_history"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1</span> <span>Medieval history</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Medieval_history-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Bezants_in_heraldry" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Bezants_in_heraldry"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2</span> <span>Bezants in heraldry</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Bezants_in_heraldry-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-External_links" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#External_links"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>External links</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-External_links-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" title="Table of Contents" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" for="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Bezant</span></h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="Go to an article in another language. Available in 20 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-20" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">20 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ar mw-list-item"><a href="https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%B2%D9%86%D8%B7" title="بيزنط – Arabic" lang="ar" hreflang="ar" data-title="بيزنط" data-language-autonym="العربية" data-language-local-name="Arabic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>العربية</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ca mw-list-item"><a href="https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Besant_(moneda)" title="Besant (moneda) – Catalan" lang="ca" hreflang="ca" data-title="Besant (moneda)" data-language-autonym="Català" data-language-local-name="Catalan" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Català</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-cs mw-list-item"><a href="https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bezant" title="Bezant – Czech" lang="cs" hreflang="cs" data-title="Bezant" data-language-autonym="Čeština" data-language-local-name="Czech" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Čeština</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-de mw-list-item"><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bezant" title="Bezant – German" lang="de" hreflang="de" data-title="Bezant" data-language-autonym="Deutsch" data-language-local-name="German" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Deutsch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-el mw-list-item"><a href="https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%9C%CF%80%CE%B5%CE%B6%CE%AC%CE%BD%CF%84" title="Μπεζάντ – Greek" lang="el" hreflang="el" data-title="Μπεζάντ" data-language-autonym="Ελληνικά" data-language-local-name="Greek" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Ελληνικά</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Besante" title="Besante – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Besante" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Besant" title="Besant – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Besant" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-gl mw-list-item"><a href="https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Besante" title="Besante – Galician" lang="gl" hreflang="gl" data-title="Besante" data-language-autonym="Galego" data-language-local-name="Galician" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Galego</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-it mw-list-item"><a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisante_(moneta)" title="Bisante (moneta) – Italian" lang="it" hreflang="it" data-title="Bisante (moneta)" data-language-autonym="Italiano" data-language-local-name="Italian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Italiano</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-lt mw-list-item"><a href="https://lt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bezantas" title="Bezantas – Lithuanian" lang="lt" hreflang="lt" data-title="Bezantas" data-language-autonym="Lietuvių" data-language-local-name="Lithuanian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Lietuvių</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-nl mw-list-item"><a href="https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bezant_(munt)" title="Bezant (munt) – Dutch" lang="nl" hreflang="nl" data-title="Bezant (munt)" data-language-autonym="Nederlands" data-language-local-name="Dutch" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Nederlands</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ja mw-list-item"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%99%E3%82%B6%E3%83%B3%E3%83%88" title="ベザント – Japanese" lang="ja" hreflang="ja" data-title="ベザント" data-language-autonym="日本語" data-language-local-name="Japanese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>日本語</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-uz mw-list-item"><a href="https://uz.wikipedia.org/wiki/Besant_(tanga)" title="Besant (tanga) – Uzbek" lang="uz" hreflang="uz" data-title="Besant (tanga)" data-language-autonym="Oʻzbekcha / ўзбекча" data-language-local-name="Uzbek" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Oʻzbekcha / ўзбекча</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pl mw-list-item"><a href="https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bizant" title="Bizant – Polish" lang="pl" hreflang="pl" data-title="Bizant" data-language-autonym="Polski" data-language-local-name="Polish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Polski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pt mw-list-item"><a href="https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Besante" title="Besante – Portuguese" lang="pt" hreflang="pt" data-title="Besante" data-language-autonym="Português" data-language-local-name="Portuguese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Português</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ro mw-list-item"><a href="https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bezant" title="Bezant – Romanian" lang="ro" hreflang="ro" data-title="Bezant" data-language-autonym="Română" data-language-local-name="Romanian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Română</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ru badge-Q17559452 badge-recommendedarticle mw-list-item" title="recommended article"><a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D0%B5%D0%B7%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%82_(%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B0)" title="Безант (монета) – Russian" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" data-title="Безант (монета)" data-language-autonym="Русский" data-language-local-name="Russian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Русский</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sl mw-list-item"><a href="https://sl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bezant" title="Bezant – Slovenian" lang="sl" hreflang="sl" data-title="Bezant" data-language-autonym="Slovenščina" data-language-local-name="Slovenian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Slovenščina</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-uk mw-list-item"><a href="https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D0%B5%D0%B7%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%82" title="Безант – Ukrainian" lang="uk" hreflang="uk" data-title="Безант" data-language-autonym="Українська" data-language-local-name="Ukrainian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Українська</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-vi mw-list-item"><a href="https://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bezant" title="Bezant – Vietnamese" lang="vi" hreflang="vi" data-title="Bezant" data-language-autonym="Tiếng Việt" data-language-local-name="Vietnamese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Tiếng Việt</span></a></li> </ul> <div class="after-portlet after-portlet-lang"><span class="wb-langlinks-edit wb-langlinks-link"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q649847#sitelinks-wikipedia" title="Edit interlanguage links" class="wbc-editpage">Edit links</a></span></div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <div class="vector-page-toolbar"> <div class="vector-page-toolbar-container"> <div id="left-navigation"> <nav aria-label="Namespaces"> <div id="p-associated-pages" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-associated-pages" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-nstab-main" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Bezant" title="View the content page [c]" accesskey="c"><span>Article</span></a></li><li id="ca-talk" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Talk:Bezant" rel="discussion" title="Discuss improvements to the content page [t]" accesskey="t"><span>Talk</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown emptyPortlet" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Change language variant" > <label id="vector-variants-dropdown-label" for="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">English</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-variants" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-variants emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> <div id="right-navigation" class="vector-collapsible"> <nav aria-label="Views"> <div id="p-views" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-views" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-view" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Bezant"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-edit" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bezant&action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e"><span>Edit</span></a></li><li id="ca-history" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bezant&action=history" title="Past revisions of this page [h]" accesskey="h"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-tools-dropdown" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Tools" > <label id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-label" for="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-page-tools" class="vector-page-tools vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-page-tools-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="page-tools-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-page-tools" data-pinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Tools</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-cactions" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-cactions emptyPortlet vector-has-collapsible-items" title="More options" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Actions </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-more-view" class="selected vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Bezant"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-edit" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bezant&action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e"><span>Edit</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-history" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bezant&action=history"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-tb" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-tb" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> General </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="t-whatlinkshere" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/Bezant" title="List of all English Wikipedia pages containing links to this page [j]" accesskey="j"><span>What links here</span></a></li><li id="t-recentchangeslinked" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChangesLinked/Bezant" rel="nofollow" title="Recent changes in pages linked from this page [k]" accesskey="k"><span>Related changes</span></a></li><li id="t-upload" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:File_Upload_Wizard" title="Upload files [u]" accesskey="u"><span>Upload file</span></a></li><li id="t-specialpages" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:SpecialPages" title="A list of all special pages [q]" accesskey="q"><span>Special pages</span></a></li><li id="t-permalink" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bezant&oldid=1269008462" title="Permanent link to this revision of this page"><span>Permanent link</span></a></li><li id="t-info" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bezant&action=info" title="More information about this page"><span>Page information</span></a></li><li id="t-cite" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CiteThisPage&page=Bezant&id=1269008462&wpFormIdentifier=titleform" title="Information on how to cite this page"><span>Cite this page</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UrlShortener&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FBezant"><span>Get shortened URL</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener-qrcode" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:QrCode&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FBezant"><span>Download QR code</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-coll-print_export" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-coll-print_export" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Print/export </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="coll-download-as-rl" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:DownloadAsPdf&page=Bezant&action=show-download-screen" title="Download this page as a PDF file"><span>Download as PDF</span></a></li><li id="t-print" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bezant&printable=yes" title="Printable version of this page [p]" accesskey="p"><span>Printable version</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-wikibase-otherprojects" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-wikibase-otherprojects" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> In other projects </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="wb-otherproject-link wb-otherproject-commons mw-list-item"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Bezants" hreflang="en"><span>Wikimedia Commons</span></a></li><li id="t-wikibase" class="wb-otherproject-link wb-otherproject-wikibase-dataitem mw-list-item"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q649847" title="Structured data on this page hosted by Wikidata [g]" accesskey="g"><span>Wikidata item</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-column-end"> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-appearance" class="vector-appearance vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-appearance-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="appearance-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-appearance" data-pinned-container-id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Appearance</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.unpin">hide</button> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div id="bodyContent" class="vector-body" aria-labelledby="firstHeading" data-mw-ve-target-container> <div class="vector-body-before-content"> <div class="mw-indicators"> </div> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Generic medieval Western European name for eastern gold coins</div> <figure typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Crusader_coins_of_the_Kingdom_of_Jerusalem.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/Crusader_coins_of_the_Kingdom_of_Jerusalem.jpg/350px-Crusader_coins_of_the_Kingdom_of_Jerusalem.jpg" decoding="async" width="350" height="148" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/Crusader_coins_of_the_Kingdom_of_Jerusalem.jpg/525px-Crusader_coins_of_the_Kingdom_of_Jerusalem.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/Crusader_coins_of_the_Kingdom_of_Jerusalem.jpg/700px-Crusader_coins_of_the_Kingdom_of_Jerusalem.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1189" data-file-height="504" /></a><figcaption>Crusader coins of the <a href="/wiki/Kingdom_of_Jerusalem" title="Kingdom of Jerusalem">Kingdom of Jerusalem</a>: <a href="/wiki/French_denier" title="French denier">Denier</a> in European style with <a href="/wiki/Holy_Sepulchre" class="mw-redirect" title="Holy Sepulchre">Holy Sepulchre</a> (1162–75); <a href="/wiki/Kufic" title="Kufic">Kufic</a> gold bezant, imitation of the <a href="/wiki/Fatimid_dinar" class="mw-redirect" title="Fatimid dinar">Fatimid dinar</a> (1140–1180); gold bezant with Christian symbol (1250s) (<a href="/wiki/British_Museum" title="British Museum">British Museum</a>). Gold coins were first copied dinars and bore Kufic script, but after 1250 <a href="/wiki/Christian_symbols" class="mw-redirect" title="Christian symbols">Christian symbols</a> were added following Papal complaints.</figcaption></figure> <figure typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Tripoli_gold_bezant_in_Arabic_1270_1300_Tripoli_silver_gros_1275_1287.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ac/Tripoli_gold_bezant_in_Arabic_1270_1300_Tripoli_silver_gros_1275_1287.jpg/350px-Tripoli_gold_bezant_in_Arabic_1270_1300_Tripoli_silver_gros_1275_1287.jpg" decoding="async" width="350" height="188" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ac/Tripoli_gold_bezant_in_Arabic_1270_1300_Tripoli_silver_gros_1275_1287.jpg/525px-Tripoli_gold_bezant_in_Arabic_1270_1300_Tripoli_silver_gros_1275_1287.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ac/Tripoli_gold_bezant_in_Arabic_1270_1300_Tripoli_silver_gros_1275_1287.jpg/700px-Tripoli_gold_bezant_in_Arabic_1270_1300_Tripoli_silver_gros_1275_1287.jpg 2x" data-file-width="908" data-file-height="487" /></a><figcaption><a href="/wiki/County_of_Tripoli" title="County of Tripoli">County of Tripoli</a> gold bezant in <a href="/wiki/Arabic_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Arabic language">Arabic</a> (1270–1300), and Tripoli silver <a href="/wiki/Gros_(coinage)" title="Gros (coinage)">gros</a> (1275–1287). <a href="/wiki/British_Museum" title="British Museum">British Museum</a>.</figcaption></figure> <p>In the <a href="/wiki/Middle_Ages" title="Middle Ages">Middle Ages</a>, the term <b>bezant</b> (<a href="/wiki/Old_French_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Old French language">Old French</a>: <i lang="fro">besant</i>, from <a href="/wiki/Middle_Latin" class="mw-redirect" title="Middle Latin">Latin</a> <span title="Latin-language text"><i lang="la">bizantius aureus</i></span>) was used in <a href="/wiki/Western_Europe" title="Western Europe">Western Europe</a> to describe several <a href="/wiki/Gold_coin" title="Gold coin">gold coins</a> of the east, all derived ultimately from the <a href="/wiki/Solidus_(coin)" title="Solidus (coin)">Roman <span title="Latin-language text"><i lang="la">solidus</i></span></a>. The word itself comes from the Greek <a href="/wiki/Byzantion" class="mw-redirect" title="Byzantion">Byzantion</a>, the ancient name of <a href="/wiki/Constantinople" title="Constantinople">Constantinople</a>, the capital of the <a href="/wiki/Byzantine_Empire" title="Byzantine Empire">Byzantine Empire</a>. </p><p>The original "bezants" were the gold coins produced by the government of the <a href="/wiki/Byzantine_Empire" title="Byzantine Empire">Byzantine Empire</a>, first the <span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><i lang="grc-Latn"><a href="/wiki/Nomisma" title="Nomisma">nomisma</a></i></span> and from the 11th century the <span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><i lang="grc-Latn"><a href="/wiki/Hyperpyron" title="Hyperpyron">hyperpyron</a></i></span>. Later, the term was used to cover the <a href="/wiki/Gold_dinar" title="Gold dinar">gold dinars</a> produced by Islamic governments. In turn, the gold coins minted in the <a href="/wiki/Kingdom_of_Jerusalem" title="Kingdom of Jerusalem">Kingdom of Jerusalem</a> and <a href="/wiki/County_of_Tripoli" title="County of Tripoli">County of Tripoli</a> were termed "Saracen bezants" (<span title="Latin-language text"><i lang="la">besantius saracenatus</i></span>), or "fake dinars" (<span title="Arabic-language romanization"><i lang="ar-Latn">dīnār ṣūrī</i></span>), since they were modelled on the <a href="/wiki/Fatimid_dinar" class="mw-redirect" title="Fatimid dinar">Fatimid dinar</a>. A completely different <a href="/wiki/Electrum" title="Electrum">electrum</a> coin based on Byzantine <span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><i lang="grc-Latn"><a href="/wiki/Trachy_(currency)" class="mw-redirect" title="Trachy (currency)">trachea</a></i></span> was minted in the <a href="/wiki/Kingdom_of_Cyprus" title="Kingdom of Cyprus">Kingdom of Cyprus</a> and called the "white bezant".<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-EI2_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-EI2-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The term <i>bezant</i> in reference to coins is common in sources from the 10th through 13th centuries. Thereafter, it was mainly employed as a <a href="/wiki/Money_of_account" class="mw-redirect" title="Money of account">money of account</a> and in literary and heraldic contexts.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Medieval_history">Medieval history</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bezant&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Medieval history"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Gold coins were rarely minted in early medieval Western Europe, up until the later 13th century; <a href="/wiki/Silver" title="Silver">silver</a> and <a href="/wiki/Bronze" title="Bronze">bronze</a> were the metals of choice for money. Gold coins were almost continually produced by the Byzantines and medieval Arabs. These circulated in Western European trade in smallish numbers, originating from the coinage mints of the Eastern Mediterranean. In Western Europe, the gold coins of <a href="/wiki/Byzantine_currency" class="mw-redirect" title="Byzantine currency">Byzantine currency</a> were highly prized. These gold coins were commonly called bezants. The first "bezants" were the Byzantine <i>solidi</i> coins; later, the name was applied to the <i>hyperpyra</i>, which replaced the <i>solidi</i> in Constantinople in the late 11th century. The name <i>hyperpyron</i> was used by the late medieval Greeks, while the name bezant was used by the late medieval Latin merchants for the same coin. The Italians also used the name <i>perpero</i> or <i>pipero</i> for the same coin (an abridgement of the name <i>hyperpyron</i>). </p><p>Medievally from the 12th century onward (if not earlier), the Western European term bezant also meant the <a href="/wiki/Gold_dinar" title="Gold dinar">gold dinar</a> coins minted by Islamic governments. The Islamic coins were originally modelled on the Byzantine <i>solidus</i> during the early years after the onset of Islam. The term bezant was used in the late medieval <a href="/wiki/Republic_of_Venice" title="Republic of Venice">Republic of Venice</a> to refer to the Egyptian gold dinar. <a href="/wiki/Marco_Polo" title="Marco Polo">Marco Polo</a> used the term bezant in the account of his travels to East Asia when describing the currencies of the <a href="/wiki/Yuan_Dynasty" class="mw-redirect" title="Yuan Dynasty">Yuan Empire</a> around the year 1300.<sup id="cite_ref-YULE_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-YULE-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> An Italian merchant's handbook dated about 1340, <i><a href="/wiki/Pratica_della_mercatura" title="Pratica della mercatura">Pratica della mercatura</a></i> by <a href="/wiki/Francesco_Balducci_Pegolotti" title="Francesco Balducci Pegolotti">Pegolotti</a>, used the term <i>bisant</i> for coins of North Africa (including Tunis and Tripoli), Cyprus, Armenia and Tabriz (in today's northwestern Iran), whereas it used the term <i>perpero</i> / <i>pipero</i> for the Byzantine bizant.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Although the medieval "bezant" usually referred to a gold coin, some medieval Latin texts have been noted to expand its usage to cover silver coins. These silver bezants were often called "white bezants".<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Occasionally in Latin they were also called "<a href="/wiki/Miliaresion" title="Miliaresion">miliaresion</a> bezants" / "<a href="/wiki/Miliarense" title="Miliarense">miliarense</a> bezants". Like the gold bezants, the silver bezants by definition were issuances by the Byzantine government or by an Arabic government, and not by a Latin government, and the usage of the term was confined to the Latin West. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Bezants_in_heraldry"><span class="anchor" id="Heraldry"></span>Bezants in heraldry</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bezant&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Bezants in heraldry"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In <a href="/wiki/Heraldry" title="Heraldry">heraldry</a>, a <a href="/wiki/Roundel_(heraldry)" title="Roundel (heraldry)">roundel</a> of a gold colour is referred to as a <i>bezant</i>, in reference to the coin. Like many <a href="/wiki/Charge_(heraldry)" title="Charge (heraldry)">heraldic charges</a>, the <i>bezant</i> originated during the crusading era, when Western European knights first came into contact with Byzantine gold coins, and were perhaps struck with their fine quality and purity. During the <a href="/wiki/Fourth_Crusade" title="Fourth Crusade">Fourth Crusade</a> the city of <a href="/wiki/Constantinople" title="Constantinople">Constantinople</a> <a href="/wiki/Siege_of_Constantinople_(1204)" class="mw-redirect" title="Siege of Constantinople (1204)">was sacked</a> by Western forces. During this sacking of the richest city of Europe, the gold <i>bezant</i> would have been very much in evidence, many of the knights no doubt having helped themselves very liberally to the booty. This event took place at the very dawn of the widespread adoption of arms by the knightly class, and thus it may have been an obvious symbol for many returned crusaders to use in their new arms. When arms are strewn with bezants, the term <i><a href="/wiki/Bezant%C3%A9e" title="Bezantée">bezantée</a></i> or <i>bezanty</i> is used. </p> <ul class="gallery mw-gallery-traditional"> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 155px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 150px; height: 150px;"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Flag_of_the_Duke_of_Cornwall.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="Banner of the Duchy of Cornwall displaying fifteen bezants"><img alt="Banner of the Duchy of Cornwall displaying fifteen bezants" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/Flag_of_the_Duke_of_Cornwall.svg/120px-Flag_of_the_Duke_of_Cornwall.svg.png" decoding="async" width="120" height="72" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/Flag_of_the_Duke_of_Cornwall.svg/180px-Flag_of_the_Duke_of_Cornwall.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/Flag_of_the_Duke_of_Cornwall.svg/240px-Flag_of_the_Duke_of_Cornwall.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="600" data-file-height="360" /></a></span></div> <div class="gallerytext">Banner of the <a href="/wiki/Duchy_of_Cornwall" title="Duchy of Cornwall">Duchy of Cornwall</a> displaying fifteen <i>bezants</i></div> </li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 155px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 150px; height: 150px;"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:RussellofDyrhamArms.jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="Arms of Sir John Russell, a 13th-century English courtier.[7]"><img alt="Arms of Sir John Russell, a 13th-century English courtier.[7]" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/RussellofDyrhamArms.jpg/94px-RussellofDyrhamArms.jpg" decoding="async" width="94" height="120" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/RussellofDyrhamArms.jpg/141px-RussellofDyrhamArms.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/RussellofDyrhamArms.jpg/188px-RussellofDyrhamArms.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1525" data-file-height="1941" /></a></span></div> <div class="gallerytext">Arms of <a href="/wiki/John_Russell_(knight)" title="John Russell (knight)">Sir John Russell</a>, a 13th-century English courtier.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></div> </li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 155px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 150px; height: 150px;"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Arms_of_William_Pitt_the_Younger.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="Arms of William Pitt the Younger"><img alt="Arms of William Pitt the Younger" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7f/Arms_of_William_Pitt_the_Younger.svg/109px-Arms_of_William_Pitt_the_Younger.svg.png" decoding="async" width="109" height="120" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7f/Arms_of_William_Pitt_the_Younger.svg/164px-Arms_of_William_Pitt_the_Younger.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7f/Arms_of_William_Pitt_the_Younger.svg/218px-Arms_of_William_Pitt_the_Younger.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="563" /></a></span></div> <div class="gallerytext">Arms of <a href="/wiki/William_Pitt_the_Younger" title="William Pitt the Younger">William Pitt the Younger</a></div> </li> </ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bezant&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist reflist-columns references-column-width" style="column-width: 30em;"> <ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Peter Edbury, "Ernoul, Eracles and the Beginnings of Frankish Rule in Cyprus, 1191–1232", <i>Medieval Cyprus: A Place of Cultural Encounter</i> (Waxmann, 2015), p. 44.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-EI2-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-EI2_2-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite id="CITEREFMiles1965" class="citation encyclopaedia cs1">Miles, G. C. (1965). <span class="id-lock-subscription" title="Paid subscription required"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_1865">"Dīnār"</a></span>. In <a href="/wiki/Bernard_Lewis" title="Bernard Lewis">Lewis, B.</a>; <a href="/wiki/Charles_Pellat" title="Charles Pellat">Pellat, Ch.</a> & <a href="/wiki/Joseph_Schacht" title="Joseph Schacht">Schacht, J.</a> (eds.). <i><a href="/wiki/The_Encyclopaedia_of_Islam#2nd_edition,_EI2" class="mw-redirect" title="The Encyclopaedia of Islam">The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition</a>. </i>Volume II:<i> C–G</i>. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. <span class="nowrap">297–</span>299. <a href="/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="OCLC (identifier)">OCLC</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/495469475">495469475</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=D%C4%ABn%C4%81r&rft.btitle=The+Encyclopaedia+of+Islam%2C+Second+Edition.+Volume+II%3A+C%E2%80%93G&rft.place=Leiden&rft.pages=%3Cspan+class%3D%22nowrap%22%3E297-%3C%2Fspan%3E299&rft.pub=E.+J.+Brill&rft.date=1965&rft_id=info%3Aoclcnum%2F495469475&rft.aulast=Miles&rft.aufirst=G.+C.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fdoi.org%2F10.1163%2F1573-3912_islam_SIM_1865&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABezant" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Philip Grierson, "Bezant", <i>The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium</i> (1991).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-YULE-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-YULE_4-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="/wiki/Henry_Yule" title="Henry Yule">Yule, Henry</a>; <a href="/wiki/Henri_Cordier" title="Henri Cordier">Cordier, Henri</a>. <i>The Travels of Marco Polo: The Complete Yule-Cordier Edition</i>. Third edition (1903), revised and updated by Henri Cordier. Plain Label Books. p. 1226-27. (<link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-60303-615-6" title="Special:BookSources/1-60303-615-6">1-60303-615-6</a>)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>La Pratica della Mercatura</i>, by Francesco Balducci Pegolotti, dated 1343, full text online in Italian at <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.medievalacademy.org/resource/resmgr/maa_books_online/evans_0024.htm">MedievalAcademy.org</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=2C89LepPuvsC&dq=%22silver%20bezants%22&pg=PA359"><b>Bezant</b> @ <i>The Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge</i></a>, Volume 4, year 1835.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Arms of Russell of <a href="/wiki/Kingston_Russell" title="Kingston Russell">Kingston Russell</a> & <a href="/wiki/Dyrham" title="Dyrham">Dyrham</a>. Sir John Russell was a favoured courtier of King Henry III, granted by the King the barony of Newmarch c. 1216.</span> </li> </ol></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bezant&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Commons-logo.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/12px-Commons-logo.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="16" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/18px-Commons-logo.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/24px-Commons-logo.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1024" data-file-height="1376" /></a></span> Media related to <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Bezants" class="extiw" title="commons:Category:Bezants">Bezants</a> at Wikimedia Commons </p> <!-- NewPP limit report Parsed by mw‐web.codfw.main‐698f89f64‐5qwmn Cached time: 20250120195803 Cache expiry: 2592000 Reduced expiry: false Complications: [vary‐revision‐sha1, show‐toc] CPU time usage: 0.295 seconds Real time usage: 0.405 seconds Preprocessor visited node count: 1039/1000000 Post‐expand include size: 9296/2097152 bytes Template argument size: 1153/2097152 bytes Highest expansion depth: 16/100 Expensive parser function count: 1/500 Unstrip recursion depth: 1/20 Unstrip post‐expand size: 13300/5000000 bytes Lua time usage: 0.186/10.000 seconds Lua memory usage: 15425290/52428800 bytes Number of Wikibase entities loaded: 1/400 --> <!-- Transclusion expansion time report (%,ms,calls,template) 100.00% 365.053 1 -total 34.61% 126.337 1 Template:Reflist 26.17% 95.549 1 Template:Langx 23.41% 85.447 1 Template:EI2 21.97% 80.196 1 Template:Cite_encyclopedia 19.45% 70.996 1 Template:Short_description 12.80% 46.732 2 Template:Pagetype 8.86% 32.333 1 Template:Commons_category-inline 8.49% 30.986 1 Template:Sister-inline 6.48% 23.672 1 Template:ISBN --> <!-- Saved in parser cache with key enwiki:pcache:1098309:|#|:idhash:canonical and timestamp 20250120195803 and revision id 1269008462. Rendering was triggered because: page-view --> </div><!--esi <esi:include src="/esitest-fa8a495983347898/content" /> --><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?useformat=desktop&type=1x1&usesul3=0" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bezant&oldid=1269008462">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bezant&oldid=1269008462</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Help:Category" title="Help:Category">Categories</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Coins" title="Category:Coins">Coins</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Gold_coins" title="Category:Gold coins">Gold coins</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Coins_of_the_Byzantine_Empire" title="Category:Coins of the Byzantine Empire">Coins of the Byzantine Empire</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Heraldic_charges" title="Category:Heraldic charges">Heraldic charges</a></li></ul></div><div id="mw-hidden-catlinks" class="mw-hidden-catlinks mw-hidden-cats-hidden">Hidden categories: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_with_short_description" title="Category:Articles with short description">Articles with short description</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Short_description_matches_Wikidata" title="Category:Short description matches Wikidata">Short description matches Wikidata</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_containing_Old_French_(842-ca._1400)-language_text" title="Category:Articles containing Old French (842-ca. 1400)-language text">Articles containing Old French (842-ca. 1400)-language text</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_containing_Latin-language_text" title="Category:Articles containing Latin-language text">Articles containing Latin-language text</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_containing_Ancient_Greek_(to_1453)-language_text" title="Category:Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text">Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Commons_category_link_from_Wikidata" title="Category:Commons category link from Wikidata">Commons category link from Wikidata</a></li></ul></div></div> </div> </main> </div> <div class="mw-footer-container"> <footer id="footer" class="mw-footer" > <ul id="footer-info"> <li id="footer-info-lastmod"> This page was last edited on 12 January 2025, at 15:55<span class="anonymous-show"> (UTC)</span>.</li> <li id="footer-info-copyright">Text is available under the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_4.0_International_License" title="Wikipedia:Text of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License</a>; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the <a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms_of_Use" class="extiw" title="foundation:Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms of Use">Terms of Use</a> and <a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy_policy" class="extiw" title="foundation:Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy policy">Privacy Policy</a>. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://wikimediafoundation.org/">Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.</a>, a non-profit organization.</li> </ul> <ul id="footer-places"> <li id="footer-places-privacy"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy_policy">Privacy policy</a></li> <li id="footer-places-about"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:About">About Wikipedia</a></li> <li id="footer-places-disclaimers"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:General_disclaimer">Disclaimers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-contact"><a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contact_us">Contact Wikipedia</a></li> <li id="footer-places-wm-codeofconduct"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Universal_Code_of_Conduct">Code of Conduct</a></li> <li id="footer-places-developers"><a href="https://developer.wikimedia.org">Developers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-statslink"><a href="https://stats.wikimedia.org/#/en.wikipedia.org">Statistics</a></li> <li id="footer-places-cookiestatement"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Cookie_statement">Cookie statement</a></li> <li id="footer-places-mobileview"><a href="//en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bezant&mobileaction=toggle_view_mobile" class="noprint stopMobileRedirectToggle">Mobile view</a></li> </ul> <ul id="footer-icons" class="noprint"> <li id="footer-copyrightico"><a href="https://wikimediafoundation.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><img src="/static/images/footer/wikimedia-button.svg" width="84" height="29" alt="Wikimedia Foundation" loading="lazy"></a></li> <li id="footer-poweredbyico"><a href="https://www.mediawiki.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><img src="/w/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki.svg" alt="Powered by MediaWiki" width="88" height="31" loading="lazy"></a></li> </ul> </footer> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-header-container vector-sticky-header-container"> <div id="vector-sticky-header" class="vector-sticky-header"> <div class="vector-sticky-header-start"> <div class="vector-sticky-header-icon-start vector-button-flush-left vector-button-flush-right" aria-hidden="true"> <button class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-sticky-header-search-toggle" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="ui.vector-sticky-search-form.icon"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-search mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-search"></span> <span>Search</span> </button> </div> <div role="search" class="vector-search-box-vue vector-search-box-show-thumbnail vector-search-box"> <div class="vector-typeahead-search-container"> <div class="cdx-typeahead-search cdx-typeahead-search--show-thumbnail"> <form action="/w/index.php" id="vector-sticky-search-form" class="cdx-search-input cdx-search-input--has-end-button"> <div class="cdx-search-input__input-wrapper" data-search-loc="header-moved"> <div class="cdx-text-input cdx-text-input--has-start-icon"> <input class="cdx-text-input__input" type="search" name="search" placeholder="Search Wikipedia"> <span class="cdx-text-input__icon cdx-text-input__start-icon"></span> </div> <input type="hidden" name="title" value="Special:Search"> </div> <button class="cdx-button cdx-search-input__end-button">Search</button> </form> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-header-context-bar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-sticky-header-toc" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-sticky-header-toc vector-sticky-header-toc vector-button-flush-left" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-sticky-header-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-sticky-header-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-sticky-header-toc-label" for="vector-sticky-header-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-sticky-header-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <div class="vector-sticky-header-context-bar-primary" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="mw-page-title-main">Bezant</span></div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-header-end" aria-hidden="true"> <div class="vector-sticky-header-icons"> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-talk-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="talk-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-speechBubbles mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-speechBubbles"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-subject-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="subject-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-article mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-article"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-history-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="history-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-history mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-history"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only mw-watchlink" id="ca-watchstar-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="watch-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-star mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-star"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-edit-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="wikitext-edit-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikiText mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-wikiText"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-ve-edit-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="ve-edit-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-edit mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-edit"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-viewsource-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="ve-edit-protected-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-editLock mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-editLock"></span> <span></span> </a> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-header-buttons"> <button class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet mw-interlanguage-selector" id="p-lang-btn-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-language"></span> <span>20 languages</span> </button> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive" id="ca-addsection-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="addsection-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-speechBubbleAdd-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-speechBubbleAdd-progressive"></span> <span>Add topic</span> </a> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-header-icon-end"> <div class="vector-user-links"> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-settings" id="p-dock-bottom"> <ul></ul> </div><script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.config.set({"wgHostname":"mw-web.codfw.main-698f89f64-5qwmn","wgBackendResponseTime":539,"wgPageParseReport":{"limitreport":{"cputime":"0.295","walltime":"0.405","ppvisitednodes":{"value":1039,"limit":1000000},"postexpandincludesize":{"value":9296,"limit":2097152},"templateargumentsize":{"value":1153,"limit":2097152},"expansiondepth":{"value":16,"limit":100},"expensivefunctioncount":{"value":1,"limit":500},"unstrip-depth":{"value":1,"limit":20},"unstrip-size":{"value":13300,"limit":5000000},"entityaccesscount":{"value":1,"limit":400},"timingprofile":["100.00% 365.053 1 -total"," 34.61% 126.337 1 Template:Reflist"," 26.17% 95.549 1 Template:Langx"," 23.41% 85.447 1 Template:EI2"," 21.97% 80.196 1 Template:Cite_encyclopedia"," 19.45% 70.996 1 Template:Short_description"," 12.80% 46.732 2 Template:Pagetype"," 8.86% 32.333 1 Template:Commons_category-inline"," 8.49% 30.986 1 Template:Sister-inline"," 6.48% 23.672 1 Template:ISBN"]},"scribunto":{"limitreport-timeusage":{"value":"0.186","limit":"10.000"},"limitreport-memusage":{"value":15425290,"limit":52428800}},"cachereport":{"origin":"mw-web.codfw.main-698f89f64-5qwmn","timestamp":"20250120195803","ttl":2592000,"transientcontent":false}}});});</script> <script type="application/ld+json">{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Article","name":"Bezant","url":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bezant","sameAs":"http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q649847","mainEntity":"http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q649847","author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Contributors to Wikimedia projects"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.wikimedia.org\/static\/images\/wmf-hor-googpub.png"}},"datePublished":"2004-10-24T12:09:07Z","dateModified":"2025-01-12T15:55:07Z","image":"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/a\/ac\/Tripoli_gold_bezant_in_Arabic_1270_1300_Tripoli_silver_gros_1275_1287.jpg","headline":"generic medieval western european name for eastern gold coins"}</script> </body> </html>